What’s shakin’ at Rodzart

What’s shakin’ at Rodzart 5-28-2010

What’s shakin’ at Rodzart 05-28-2010

Hi Folks. I hope everyone has had a good week.

Jack and I had a pretty good week in the studio; we have four new paintings for you today. Two paintings are on canvas and two more on paper.

The first Painting is oil on an 18 X 24 inch canvas called:
DarkWorld II. This is the second painting in what has become the DarkWorld series. I’m really enjoying these paintings, particularly since I more or less fell into them. DarkWorld III is on the easel now, and will probably be done next week.

The next is an acrylic on an 8 X 10 inch canvas and is called:
Composition 1035. It’s an abstract geometric, marginally of the Supremacist genre. I stuck to primary colors on this one since I wanted to do something bright, to balance out the darkness of the DarkWorld paintings.

Then we have a 5 X 7 inch acrylic on watercolor paper which is called:
Expression 1033. We’ve all seen me paint in this style before, so nuf said there.

Lastly is another 5 X 7 inch acrylic on watercolor paper and is called:
Expression 1034. I like doing paintings this size now and then, since it’s a little more challenging to fit the image in my head into a small space like this.

Since I haven’t explained this for a while, I thought I’d mention how I name paintings. Since most of my work is non-objective and non-representational I don’t usually give my paintings a descriptive title. The purpose for that is simply that I want you to see what you see and not what I suggest that you see.

So, for paintings with no recognizable object or shape I use the term “Expression”, followed by a number. The expression part just comes from abstract expressionism, and the number is a year followed by the paintings number. Hence, “Expression 1033” is the 33rd painting which I’ve completed in 2010.

If a painting has a recognizable object or shape it will usually get the title “Composition” followed by a number. All my paintings are composed to some degree, but these a bit more; so “Composition 1035” is a composition and is the 35th painting I’ve completed in 2010.

Now if a painting actually does represent something, like in the DarkWorld paintings, I’ll put a descriptive title on it, since that’s what I want you to think about.

Before I wrap it up this week I thought I’d mention that at some point in the near future I’m hoping to do a series of YouTube videos, which will take a painting from conception to completion. I think everyone might find that interesting, so I’ll keep ya posted on that.

Just a reminder that I’ve got six paintings hanging in “The Art of Hair” salon at 10963 Causeway Blvd., in Brandon. So, I hope you’ll drop by and check them out.

Here’s some links to remember:

For original paintings, or to inquire about a commissioned painting, just email me at info@rodzart.com
For original paintings sold at auction go to:
http://www.artbyus.com/auctions.php?a=6&b=85

Original works on paper can be purchased at:
http://rodzart.etsy.com

To buy prints on paper or canvas, mouse pads, mugs, refrigerator magnets, etc. check out:
http://www.artwanted.com/rodzart>
http://rodzart2.deviantart.com/gallery/>

For other cool stuff like T-shirts, clocks or travel mugs try my Cafepress site http://www.cafepress.com/rodzart

To obtain fine art prints, framed or unframed:
http://rod-schneider.artistwebsites.com
http://rod-schneider.fineartamerica.com

I’m also on Twitter
Myspace and
Facebook

I hope everyone has a peaceful and prosperous week.

Rod

What’s shakin’ at Rodzart 5-21-2010

What’s shakin’ at Rodzart 05-21-2010

Hi Folks. I hope everyone has had a good week.

Over the past few weeks I’ve had a number of new subscribers to my blog, so I thought I’d start out this week by saying thanks! I appreciate your interest in me and my work. Most of the time I feel like I’m just shouting in the dark, so it’s really nice to know someone actually is out there.

I finished two new paintings for you this week. The first Painting is called:
DarkWorld I. This painting started out to be something completely different, but, as sometimes happens; I got hijacked by my imagination. This one was so much fun to do, and I like the coloring on it so much, I think I’ll probably do some more along this line.

The other is acrylic on paper and is called:
Busted Flipper. This is a painting I did for my son who is recovering from a forklift accident, where he broke his arm in two places requiring surgery to repair. This one is just for him, so I won’t be posting it on any of my normal art sites. So this is the only place where you’ll see it.

I’ve mentioned commissions here before, but this week I thought I’d get a little more specific about it for those who aren’t sure how the process works, at least with me.

Realizing that I’m pretty far over the edge, commissioning a painting from me is not as simple as asking me to paint a sunflower, or a portrait of your cat. However, there are some things that you can specify.

You can specify an abstract style.
I work in my own version of several abstract styles. Have a look at any of my existing abstract work and see what you like. For instance if you like “Sky Dance”, you could commission a painting in the same style.

You can specify a dominant color.
If you’d like a painting mainly blue or red or green, no problem, I can work with that.

You can specify a Size.
Most of my work that you find on the web falls into a number of sizes. 12 X 16, 16 X 20, 18 X 24 and 24 X 36. These are all standard readily available canvas sizes. If you’d like a painting in other than these sizes, that’s no problem, either. If you want something room size, I’ll be delighted to do it, but that will get expensive since I don’t have space in my studio to work on a canvas that size, so I’d have to rent some studio space.

Copyright considerations.
Ok, here’s the scoop. If you purchase a painting by commission, or otherwise for that matter, you own the physical canvas. I however, hold exclusive copyright to the image. What this comes down to is that you can do anything you want with the canvas. Personally I hope you’ll hang it on the wall and love it forever,
But if you want to you can patch a hole in the wall with, you can set fire to it and dance naked around the flames, whatever. What you can’t do though, is alter the image on the canvas without my permission. This means that you can’t draw something on the image; you can’t sell prints of the image, or otherwise change the image that’s on the canvas. All things considered, this sort of stuff almost never comes up, but its worth mentioning so nobody gets burned.

So how much is all this going to cost me?
The cost on a commission is based on a number of things both tangible and intangible. There’s the visible costs of materials; paint, canvas, etc. In addition there’s packaging and shipping expenses. If you live within 50 miles of Valrico, and it’ll fit in a civic, I’ll bring it to you. Otherwise we’ll have to ship it. Plus sales taxes of course. The intangible costs are things like, how long does it take me to design and paint the work, and just how much value to having my name on it add to the value of the painting. All I can say on that score is that having a commissioned painting by anyone will give a good deal of bragging rights, and having one by me will only increase in value as time goes on. Ya gotta believe! So after all that, what’ll it cost? Anywhere from $150 on up depending on all the stuff I just talked about.

So, if you’ve got a commission in mind, drop me an email and we’ll talk. It don’t cost nuthun to ask.

Remember also please, that I’ve got six paintings hanging in “The Art of Hair” salon at 10963 Causeway Blvd., in Brandon. So, if you or someone you know needs hair styling, I hope you’ll drop by and check them out.

Here’s some links to remember:

For original paintings, just email me at info@rodzart.com
For original paintings sold at auction go to:
http://www.artbyus.com/auctions.php?a=6&b=85

Original works on paper can be purchased at:
http://rodzart.etsy.com

To buy prints on paper or canvas, mouse pads, mugs, refrigerator magnets, etc. check out:
http://www.artwanted.com/rodzart>
http://rodzart2.deviantart.com/gallery/>

For other cool stuff like T-shirts, clocks or travel mugs try my Cafepress site http://www.cafepress.com/rodzart

To obtain fine art prints, framed or unframed:
http://rod-schneider.artistwebsites.com
http://rod-schneider.fineartamerica.com

I’m also on Twitter
Myspace and
Facebook

I hope everyone has a peaceful and prosperous week.

Rod

What’s shakin’ at Rodzart 5-14-2010

What’s shakin’ at Rodzart 05-07-2010

Hi Folks. I hope everyone has had a good week.

I got a copy of Photoshop elements a few weeks ago, and while I’m still learning how to use it effectively, I think that the quality of my photography has improved quite a bit already. I’m able to use the resolution built into my camera (12 MP) to a lot better effect. I confess to being a lousy photographer, but I’m hoping to see some improvement soon.

I finished two new paintings this week. The first Painting is called: Expression 1029. I was thinking about economic vampires like banks and insurance companies and this is what I saw. It’s starting to look like, no matter how badly they cheat the people, no matter how dishonest they are, they’re still raking in massive and obscene profits. Corporate bosses can’t think beyond their next bonus, and that short-sightedness is destroying our economy and those of many other nations. Sorry for that rant, it’s been a tough week.

The other is acrylic on paper and is called: Expression 1028. It’s an interesting image that is built around using straight lines; I think you’ll enjoy it.

Those who’ve followed my work for a while know my near reverence for simplicity. A great deal of that comes from my years on the COBOL/MVS world where letting things get over complicated can lead to some nasty results. Well, as it is with computer code, so it is with life. If you clutter your life up with too many complications you loose sight of what really matters. Your “core values” in the parlance of today.

Now, how does that apply to art? Easy, art has many purposes in society, one of which is to divert the viewer from reality even if only for a few minutes.
One of my goals in much of my work is to create a painting that the viewer can loose him/herself in for a while. If you approach my work with an open mind, and remember not to ask “what is it?” you can let your mind wander through the painting, see what you can see, and maybe hide out from reality for a few minutes. Remember out motto here at Rodzart .

Please remember that I’ve got six paintings hanging in “The Art of Hair” salon at 10963 Causeway Blvd., in Brandon. So, if you, or someone you know needs hair styling, I hope you’ll drop by and check them out.

Here’s some links to remember:

For original paintings, just email me at info@rodzart.com
For original paintings sold at auction go to:
http://www.artbyus.com/auctions.php?a=6&b=85

Original works on paper can be purchased at:
http://rodzart.etsy.com

To buy prints on paper or canvas, mouse pads, mugs, refrigerator magnets, etc. check out:
http://www.artwanted.com/rodzart>
http://rodzart2.deviantart.com/gallery/>

For other cool stuff like T-shirts, clocks or travel mugs try my Cafepress site http://www.cafepress.com/rodzart

To obtain fine art prints, framed or unframed:
http://rod-schneider.artistwebsites.com
http://rod-schneider.fineartamerica.com

I’m also on Twitter
Myspace and
Facebook

I hope everyone has a peaceful and prosperous week.

Rod

What’s shakin’ at Rodzart 5-7-2010

What’s shakin’ at Rodzart 05-07-2010

Hi Folks. I hope everyone has had a good week.

This hasn’t been the most productive of weeks in the studio I’m afraid. I did finish one painting, but what with tree trimmers who didn’t show, snakes, and Jack getting overheated, it was tough to concentrate on painting this week as much as I’d have liked to. Hopefully next week will be better.

I do have one new painting for you this week. This Painting is another in the “Project 901” series and is called: Expression 1027.

I have been working on some improvements to the web site. It’s been a while since I was a code monkey, and even longer since I had to learn a new programming language (PHP) but it’s coming along. If I can just figure out how to use CSS with PHP I’ll be all set.

I’ve also good a number of new paintings rattling around in my head, and some already in my sketchbooks which should be showing up soon, and I think you’ll find them interesting.

You know, I ask people to support self-representing artists pretty regularly. Now, that’s only partially because I am one. Self-representing artists of are artists who have been rejected by the artistic establishment, or simply do not care to participate in the gallery system.

The point being made here is simply this; good art doesn’t necessarily always hang in a gallery. Art is where you find it, whether it’s on an art site like www.artbyus.com or www.fineart.com; at an art fair; or even standing on a street corner. So, look around, even if you don’t like my work, there’s plenty of very fine artists out there who aren’t part of the establishment.

Remember, so many of the artists that we consider masters today were thoroughly rejected by the artistic “experts” of their day.

Remember that I’ve got six paintings hanging in “The Art of Hair” salon at 10963 Causeway Blvd., in Brandon. So, the next time anyone needs hair styling, or 21st century art, I hope you’ll drop by and check them out.

Here’s some links to remember:

For original paintings, just email me at info@rodzart.com
For original paintings sold at auction go to:
http://www.artbyus.com/auctions.php?a=6&b=85

Original works on paper can be purchased at:
http://rodzart.etsy.com

To buy prints on paper or canvas, mouse pads, mugs, refrigerator magnets, etc. check out:
http://www.artwanted.com/rodzart>
http://rodzart2.deviantart.com/gallery/>

For other cool stuff like T-shirts, clocks or travel mugs try my Cafepress site http://www.cafepress.com/rodzart

To obtain fine art prints, framed or unframed:
http://rod-schneider.artistwebsites.com
http://rod-schneider.fineartamerica.com

I’m also on Twitter
Myspace and
Facebook

I hope everyone has a peaceful and prosperous week.

Rod